Former college teammates face off in prep hockey

January 09, 2004|BY STEVE FOLEY NEWS-REVIEW SPORTS WRITER

Funny what life presents to old friends sometimes.

Once part of one of the premier college hockey programs in the land, two former Lake Superior State University Lakers will meet head-to-head as high school coaches for the first time 7 p.m. today, Friday, Jan. 9.

That's when Traverse City West, under the guidance of Anthony Palumbo, and Petoskey and first-year coach Rene Chapdelaine will be behind their respective benches at Griffin Arena for a Big North Conference contest.

The Northmen will then host Gladwin for a non-conference game at 7 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 10, at Griffin Arena.

"I expect this game to be a close one, kind of like our Gaylord game," Chapdelaine said looking at the Petoskey-West matchup. "We haven't had an opportunity to play a home game in our conference since we played Cheboygan (Dec. 5) and it's time for us to get some redemption.

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"I expect a very tight game."

Friday's game will reunite Palumbo and Chapdelaine, as both played at LSSU from 1985-86 to 1988-89. In 1988, LSSU won it's first ever Division I NCAA National Championship with Palumbo, a center and captain, and Chapdelaine, a rugged defenseman.

"Obviously, it's going to be more fun than anything," said Palumbo, a Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, native. "We grew up as classmates at LSSU. It's going to be a lot of fun."

Palumbo, who had 22 goals and 44 assists in his final collegiate season, 1988-89, took over the reigns of a rising program in the Titans just as Chepdelaine did with Petoskey.

"We've had to parallel each other in our new jobs," Palumbo said. "Both programs were in need of help and direction was more of an issue in my program. Rene has had to deal with more personnel issues rather than talent. Our talent level is OK, we just needed to find a direction."

Palumbo, who's coached at various levels including an assistant at LSSU, has the Titans heading in the right direction. They are 8-4 overall, 0-1 in the Big North.

"We lost our last game (a week ago) to Muskegon Mona Shores 1-0," Palumbo said. "We've played pretty well so far, but we had a major setback in the Sault where we were missing some players."

The Titans' lone conference game came on Dec. 17 where they fell to the Blue Devils, 9-1. They entered that game on a six-game win streak.

"We have a pair of good goaltenders in Mitch Edmondson and Cody Elliott," Palumbo said. "Mitch (Edmondson) will play on Friday. We're a team that has some veterans, but not a lot of experience. The older, more mature kids have responded well though for us."

The Titans are led offensively by senior twin brothers Trevor and Blake Begin. Trevor Begin is the captain, while Blake Begin hasn't played since an injury suffered more than one month ago.

"Blake's just working his way back and he's been practicing with us," Palumbo said. "He and Trevor are two solid players for us."

Another Titan who's enjoying a fine season is Joey Hanrahan, who Palumbo says is a solid two-way player.

Palumbo said he doesn't know much about the Northmen, but he does know they won't be an easy opponent.

"I know they have a very good goaltender and some solid forwards up front," he said. "And as much as I don't want to say it, they have an outstanding head coach. It's one of those things where they're a team you can't take lightly. They're greatly improved and their coaching staff has a lot to do with that."

The Northmen, 5-5, 1-3, are coming off a hard-fought, hard-luck 2-1 loss to Gaylord in front of a huge gathering at the Gaylord Sportsplex on Friday.

Offense has been hard to come by for Petoskey in league games this season. The Northmen are averaging just 1.5 goals per league game.

"Going into the season, we knew we weren't blessed with a lot of offensive capabilities," Chapdelaine said. "We're a mucking and grinding team. I wish our conversion rate on our chances was better, but we'll just have to keep working hard.

Defensively, the Northmen are led by goaltender Mike Bell and defenseman Cody Hunter, both juniors. In four league games, Bell has faced 114 shots and has an .877 save percentage and a 3.66 goals against average.

"I don't think one team will have an overall edge," Chapdelaine said. "I was talking to the Gaylord coaching staff regarding them (the Titans) and they told me they're a good team with some skilled players.

"It would be nice to get a win against a good league team."

Like Chapdelaine, Palumbo is thinking the same thing.

"We know they beat Sault Ste. Marie and we lost to the Sault 9-1," Palumbo said. "We hope the kids understand you have to be ready to play against Petoskey and it's not a given against them anymore. The talent is better and the coaching staff is the best in Northern Michigan.